Still Dreaming: A Musical Tribute to MLK with Remarks by Ibram X. Kendi

On January 31, 2021 at 3pm Milton Community Concerts, in collaboration with Courageous Conversations for Racial Justice, will present a livestream benefit concert, “Still Dreaming: A Musical Tribute to MLK”. This one-hour program will feature a diverse and prestigous group of composers and performers in a program to benefit the Neponset Neighbors Together Fund through the United Way. There will also be a special appearance by antiracist activist and best-selling author Ibram X. Kendi

Soprano Brianna Robinson will be singing the powerful and dramatic song cycle “Songs of Love and Justice” by Adolphus Hailstork, from the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ms. Robinson is an Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, and is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Ohio Wesleyan University.

Soprano Mary Johnston Letellier will be singing four deeply moving songs by Black American composers Cedric Adderley, Nadine Shanti, David N. Baker, and Thomas H. Kerr, Jr, featuring texts by Mari Evans, Langston Hughes, and Paul Laurence Dunbar that reflect on civil rights and racial justice. Ms. Letellier is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music and is currently on the voice faculty at the University of Southern Maine.

Baritone Philip Lima will close the program with “I Have a Dream” by Lee Hoiby, a rousing musical setting of Dr. King’s iconic speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, 1963. Mr. Lima is a distinguished performer on the operatic and concert stage, having performed with the Boston Pops and over sixty musical organizations around the world. He is a graduate of Boston University and is currently an assistant Chair of the Voice Department at the Berklee College of Music.

All singers will be collaborating in this program with pianist Timothy Steele, producer of Milton Community Concerts and Music Director at First Parish of Milton. Special narration will be provided by Cynthia Harmon; recording engineers are Eric Miller and Gabriel Raines.

Due to COVID precautions Ms. Robinson and Mr. Lima will be singing live beginning at 3pm, but at separate times and differing locations in the Meetinghouse at First Parish of Milton. Ms. Letellier and Ms. Harmon will be prerecording their portions of the program. All net proceeds from this livestream concert will go to support the Neponset Neighbors Together Fund, a COVID-19 fund to support neighbors of Milton, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Dorchester who are adversely impacted by the current health crisis, with a focus on our most economically vulnerable neighbors. Funds will go to assist families with rent, food, utilities, internet connectivity for families with school-aged children, essential supplies and medications, and other basic needs.

A generous grant from Celebrate Milton is assisting in the production of this concert. For more information visit https://miltoncommunityconcerts.com.